PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team reeled off a historic comeback for the ages on Saturday against Columbia, rallying from four runs down to complete a sweep of their Ivy League doubleheader, clinching at least a share of the Ivy League regular season title in the process.
The Quakers took Game 1 by a score of 8-3 behind a dominant team performance at the plate and Game 2, 8-7, thanks to a five-run ninth. The sweep, paired with Harvard's doubleheader split against Yale, leaves Penn one game up in the conference standings with one game left to play.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
* Game 2 marked the first time in more than a decade that Penn won a nine-inning game in which it trailed by more than one run entering the final frame.
* The Quakers pounded out 14 hits in Game 1, with all nine starters recording at least one.
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Wyatt Henseler broke his own single-season program record with his 15th home run of the season, simultaneously tying the single-season RBI mark at 55.
* Entering the day with one home run on the season,
Cole Palis went deep in Game 2 for the Red and Blue. He finished the day 5-for-9 with three runs and six RBI.
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Jackson Appel went 5-for-10 across the twin bill with a run and an RBI.
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Asa Wilson and
Seth Werchan both finished the day with three hits. Wilson went 3-for-7 with three runs and a pair of RBI; Werchan went 3-for-6 with three runs.
* In his longest outing in more than two years,
Brian Zeldin picked up the win in Game 1, tossing four scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners while striking out four.
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Thomas Shurtleff earned the Game 2 win, matching his season-high with two innings pitched and setting a career-high with four strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 1
Henseler and
Ben Miller got the Quaker bats going early, homering on back-to-back pitches in the bottom of the first.
Columbia cut the lead in half in the second, then took a 3-2 lead on a two-run homer in the fourth.
After Palis and Appel reached on back-to-back singles in the fifth, a critical two-out error allowed Palis to score the tying run.
In the sixth,
Ryan Taylor led off with a single and
Jarrett Pokrovsky followed with a go-ahead homer to center, his first as a Quaker.
After Wilson was hit by a pitch, Appel plated him with a triple just inside the right field foul line.
In the eighth, after Werchan led off with a double and Wilson singled him to third, Palis bunted one back to the Columbia pitcher, with Werchan miraculously avoiding the tag at the plate, putting Penn up 7-3. Miller singled home Wilson later in the inning.
Carson Ozmer came on and struck out two in a scoreless ninth to close out the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 2
Columbia scored early and often, putting three unanswered runs on the board in the first two innings.
Penn got on the board in the bottom of the second when Werchan singled in Pokrovsky, who had walked and advanced to second on a Werchan single.
Columbia doubled their lead with a two-run homer in the third, and had a chance to break the game open with the bases loaded and no one out in the fourth, but
Tommy Delany kept Penn in the game with a pop out, then a strikeout, then a fly out, letting out a roar as he waked back to the dugout.
In the Penn fourth, Palis cut into the Lions' lead with his first round-tripper of the day, a two-run shot that also scored Werchan, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
Columbia tacked on a run in the sixth, then another in the ninth, opening a seemingly insurmountable lead.
With Penn down to its final three outs, Werchan led off and was promptly hit by a pitch. Wilson followed with a sharp single to left field. With the Quakers now one baserunner away from bringing the tying run to the plate, Palis, after showing bunt on the first three pitches of his at-bat, ripped a 2-1 offering to right that clanked off the foul pole, slicing the Columbia lead to 7-6.
Appel followed with a single to left and Henseler followed Appel with a double to left-center, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position with nobody out. After Columbia intentionally walked Miller to load the bases and recorded the first out of the inning on a strikeout, Taylor tied the game with a base hit to left. With the bases still loaded, Pokrovsky played hero with a line-drive single to left-center, capping the Quakers' remarkable comeback.
Up Next/What's At Stake
Penn wraps the regular season tomorrow with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch against the Lions. The Quakers can clinch the outright regular season title and host the Ivy League Tournament with a win or a Harvard loss against Yale.
Senior Day ceremonies will precede the game, with the Class of 2023 set to be honored for their accomplishments over the last four years.
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